OptimalChinese
Learn Chinese in known context
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Learn and review notions within phrases exclusively made out of words you know. No app takes comprehensive input as far as OptimalChinese.
Every sentence you study is built from the words you already know, plus exactly one new notion. That is the whole idea: nothing you read is above your level, so you understand it the first time — and you remember it.
EVERY SENTENCE IS ONE STEP UP
When a new word or rule comes up, the example around it is assembled from vocabulary you have already learned. One unknown per sentence, never five.
NEVER FORGET
Every word and every rule is scheduled with FSRS-6, the modern spaced-repetition algorithm, and comes back at the last useful moment — so a notion learned once is not learned three times.
NEVER CONFUSE
Look anything up and see how it is built: the characters a word is made of, the words it combines into, its measure words, and the siblings that are easy to mix up. Link two confusable entries and they are taught apart.
FOR EACH ASPECT
Reading, listening and writing are different skills, so each gets its own card and its own schedule. A word you can read but not hear keeps coming back in your ears until you can.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR PATH
Follow HSK 1–5 lesson by lesson, or pick from hundreds of themes and learn the vocabulary of what you actually talk about. Tell the app where you are and it plans the rest.
IMPORT WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE
Bring in an Anki deck or a Pleco export, or start from your HSK level in one screen. What you already know is merged with what the app teaches, instead of starting you from zero.
YOUR CLASSES, IN THE APP
Share a private space with your teacher. Anything either of you saves during a lesson — a word, a phrase, a correction — is waiting in your reviews afterwards.
AN AI TUTOR THAT KNOWS YOUR LEVEL
Ask why a sentence works the way it does, and get an answer written for the vocabulary you actually have.
ALSO
• Native audio on every word, sentence and example
• Dictation using your iPhone's own speech recognition
• A dictionary that searches on the device, instantly
• Your own cards and phrases, alongside the built-in ones
• Dark mode, haptics, and a layout made for one hand
SUBSCRIPTION
OptimalChinese Pro unlocks everything: $12.99 per month or $79.99 per year, after a 7-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when the free trial ends, and the subscription renews automatically unless it is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings.
Terms of Use: https://www.optimalchinese.com/terms
Privacy Policy: https://www.optimalchinese.com/privacy
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
The developer, Lucas Costagliola, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Lucas Costagliola
- Size
- 12.3 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
13+
- 13+
- Infrequent
Profanity or Crude Humor
Alcohol, Tobacco, Drug Use or References
Sexual Content or Nudity
Guns or Other Weapons
Contains
Messaging and Chat
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Yearly $79.99
- Monthly $12.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 BrightPath Learning